Finding Waterlily
by Kydra Waterlily
Summary: A new mutant has been found and Wolverine finds himself face to face with love.


Disclaimer: The only characters I own in this story are Alec, Katana, Kydra, & Bender. All other characters are owned by Marvel Comics, all rights reserved.  
  
Note: This takes place after X2.  
  
"You shouldn't have tried to call the police. I'd have left you alive, just taken what I wanted from you. But now, I'm going to have to do something I really didn't want to do. I'll have to kill you." Pyro sneered. He'd never planned on leaving the couple alive. He flicked open his lighter and pulled a fireball from it. He threw the fireball at the man, and laughed as the man screamed. Then he turned his attention to the woman.  
"Please, don't hurt me! I won't tell the police, I promise. Just please, leave me alive!" The woman pleaded with Pyro, to no avail. He smiled and shook his head. He pulled another fireball from his lighter and grinned even wider at the woman's screams. Then he turned his attention to the girl.  
The girl stood there shaking. She didn't know what to do. Her parents screams had long since stopped and the charred husks of their bodies were all that were left. All of a sudden she was on the floor, and the boy in her living room was looking around franticly for her. Instinctively, she started to move. She slid underneath the refrigerator and stayed there until she saw him leave. Then she slid out from under the fridge, reformed herself, and stared at the burned bodies of her parents.  
"Oh Momma, Poppa, I wish I could have done something to help you. I don't even know how I managed to escape. But I do know that I'm going to be blamed for your deaths. I've got to get out of here." She ran up the stairs to her room and grabbed everything that she could fit into her duffle bag. Then she took off.  
  
*** 3 Months Later***  
  
"You need to find this girl. Her name is Kydra. I don't care what it takes. We need to get to her before Magneto does." Charles Xavier told his elite team of mutants, known as the X-Men. He looked at his friends and colleagues. "You know that now that he has Pyro, he will stop at nothing to get her."  
"What exactly is it that she does?" Storm asked the question that all of them were thinking. After all, it would help them to know what it was that she could do, so they'd know if they'd have to do anything special to get her to come with them. Storm had a feeling that she knew what it was that Kydra could do, but she wasn't sure.  
"Well, from what I've been able to see through Cerebro, she has the ability to turn herself into water, as well as the ability to control water. She can make it rise in waves, create ripples from above it with her hands, and she can actually become water and move herself around in trickle as well. She's a very interesting girl, and as the opposite of fire, you know that Magneto will want her." Xavier smiled at Storm. "So far the only things I've gathered about her are what her powers are, and that it was a tragedy, not puberty which brought on her abilities."  
"So basically you're sending Cyclops and Storm after some chick that can turn herself into a puddle of water?" Wolverine asked. "You guys better make sure you take a mop, bucket, and a bottle with a lid along, just in case she makes a puddle of herself, you won't lose her." He smirked.  
"It figures you'd be a smartass." Cyclops glared at Wolverine. "You're just pissed because Charles wants you to stay here and help him run the school and teach classes but he wants Storm and myself to go and find this Kydra." Cyclops grinned. Wolverine flipped him off.  
"You're such a dick Cyclops." Wolverine stormed out of the room. Cyclops laughed as Storm and Xavier shook their heads. They were used to the animosity between Wolverine and Cyclops. However, this wasn't the time for animosity.  
"I'll get the jet ready." Storm said as she headed out of the room. Cyclops started to get up and follow her, but Xavier asked him to stay.  
"I'm not sending you to find her in order for you to use her as a replacement for Jean. I want you to understand that right now." Xavier warned him. "I'm sending you because I know how unpredictable Wolverine can be. I know that he can take off at a moment's notice." Cyclops nodded. "However, as I said, I do not want you to use Kydra as a replacement for Jean. Do I make myself clear? I do not need you using that poor frightened girl as a rebound girlfriend."  
"Don't worry, I'm not in the market for a new girlfriend." Cyclops stormed out of the room. Xavier shook his head. He knew that if Cyclops said he wasn't in the market for a new girlfriend, then he wasn't. But he'd needed to make the point clear that this new girl was not going to be ready to take on a boyfriend whose powers she didn't understand any more than she understood her own.  
"Are you ready to go?" Storm asked Cyclops. She was tired of waiting for him. Sometimes that man could be so damned slow, it frustrated her no end. Just because the boy had to wear special glasses to keep from burning everyone alive with his eyes, didn't mean he had to be slower than a snail crossing a beach.  
"Yes, for crying out loud. Let's get this going." Cyclops growled. He didn't like the fact that Xavier had pegged his intentions so easily. He was lying when he'd said that he wasn't interested in getting a new girlfriend. After all, it'd been quite a while since Jean had died, and he was starting to get rather lonely. "I just want to get this girl and get her back here before anything happens."  
  
*** Magneto's Base***  
  
"I want that girl found!" Magneto screamed at Mystique and Pyro. "If she can turn into a puddle of water like Pyro says she can, then she can be of great value to us in our quest for mutant freedom." Magneto sat back in his chair and thought for a few minutes. "She could be extremely valuable to our group. You will find her, and you will do it immediately."  
"Do you have any idea of where she is?" Mystique asked her boss.  
"Just wait around my old friend's school. I'm sure she'll turn up there eventually." Magneto knew that his dear old friend would most likely be able to find the girl using Cerebro. When he did, and when he went to bring her to the school, Magneto planned on being there to grab her.  
"Do you at least have a name for her?" Pyro looked around the room. "I have to tell you that I don't see how in the world we're supposed to grab her when we don't know her name." Pyro was playing with that ever present cigarette lighter of his.  
"No, I don't have a name for her. If I had a name for her, I'd have a location as well. But I don't. That is why I want you to go to the school and wait. When they come in, Pyro should recognize the girl's face. It hasn't been that long since he saw her. Now go! I want her here as soon as possible." Magneto shook his head at his people as they took off.  
"Why can't we just follow the jet to where they are? Since I know what she looks like and they don't, we'd be able to find her quicker than they could. It'd be much more interesting than just sitting around the school and waiting for them to show up with her." Pyro gave Mystique a petulant look.  
"Well, for one thing, because Magneto told us to go to the school and wait. For another, we don't know if the jet has taken off yet." Mystique hissed. She hated being stuck with an impatient kid who clearly wasn't ready for this type of mission.  
"Sure we do. It's flying overhead right now." Pyro looked up as the jet screamed overhead. "Honestly, it's got to be much more interesting to follow that jet than to go to that stupid school. I'd rather not go back there, even if I'm only going to be hanging around outside. I came from that place, remember? They treated me like a child and wouldn't let me do anything when I know I could have been some help to them when they were trying to save Xavier from Striker."  
"Fine, we'll follow the jet. Now would you stop whining about everything you can think of to whine about?" Mystique was growing ever more annoyed with this punk kid who just happened to be able to pull fireballs off a cigarette lighter. Big deal. Now if the kid could have actually created fire out of thin air, that would have been impressive. She lifted the helicopter off the ground and followed the jet to a small town in northern New York state called Angel Creek.  
  
*** Angel Creek***  
  
Storm and Cyclops landed the jet and walked down the ramp. Looking around, they tried to figure out where to start looking. They had an address for the girl, but they weren't sure what they wanted to do yet. They certainly weren't looking to scare the poor girl off, especially if she didn't know how to control her powers. A couple of miles away, Pyro and Mystique stepped from the helicopter. "There she is!" Pyro screamed.  
Kydra turned just in time to see a woman with blue scales and a boy with a cigarette lighter coming towards her. They didn't look like they were interested in asking directions to the nearest bar, so she took off running. She ran through town, trying to lose the two people, or whatever they were, that were closing in on her. Finally she collapsed into a puddle of water just a few feet from where Storm and Cyclops stood watching.  
"Holy shit!" Cyclops yelled. "That must be Kydra." The puddle began to flow towards him, but all he could do was just stare. "Looks like Mystique and Pyro are after her. Wonder what made her turn to the puddle." About that moment, Kydra reached Storm and Cyclops. She returned to human form, and stood in front of them, shaking.  
"Are they chasing you?" Storm asked. It may have seemed like a stupid question, but she wanted to be sure that Kydra wanted to get away. Kydra nodded. "Get on the jet." Kydra started to shake her head no, but Cyclops stopped her with a stare.  
  
Katana stopped on the hill over looking the five men and women. She had tracked the mutant who had ruined her reputation all over New York and was not happy that the boy kept evading her. This is why she didn't deal with people mutants and humans alike. She'd have been far happier creating her art and looking for her twin than chasing a poser that trashed upstanding citizens hard earned reputations but here she was. The girl standing in front of the jet looked oddly familiar but Katana gave her only a moments glance as she headed down the hill to where the Mexican stand off was taking place. Mutants against mutants was never a pretty picture.  
"Before everyone gets their panties in a twist I have a question to ask. Then you can go on trying to kill each other." She informed in a cold voice.  
The frightened girl standing in front of the man with the weird sun glasses and the woman with white hair promptly cascaded into a water puddle.  
"Ok, anyways. Which one of you goes by the cliché name of Pyro?"  
Pyro really needed to learn when to keep his mouth shut. "I am and who would you be?"  
Katana arched an eyebrow as the boy flipped the top on his zippo and let the flame ignite toying with it as a baby would a rattle. "I am the one that is getting the back lash of your stupid stunts."  
"Got a name?" Pyro asked grinning wickedly as he threw a fire ball at her.  
Katana caught the fire ball in one hand and let it burn.  
The other mutants looked at her in curiosity as she sent it back to Pyro three fold. "That was a warning next time you play with fire get ready to burn."  
Pyro sat on the ground stunned looking up at the bitch on the hill while fire spiraled in a neat little circle around him. Beside him Mystique shook her head in female bafflement.  
  
Cyclops leaned over and whispered into Storm's ear. "Ok, we need to get her back to the school as well, before these two bozos take her for themselves." Storm glared at him.  
"We're here for Kydra, and she is the only one we'll be taking back with us. Now if you can get her soothed enough to return to human form, get her on the plane." Cyclops nodded and went about the task of attempting to soothe the frightened mutant girl.  
  
Katana stood on the hill, watching with amusement as the guy in the weird sunglasses crouched down and started to talk to the puddle of water that had once been a human girl. Glancing over at the blue woman and that idiot punk who thought he was so hot because he could throw fireballs off a lighter, she noticed that they too were watching the puddle of water. Since they were doing nothing to attempt to help Sunglasses get the puddle back to human form, she assumed that they were not with Sunglasses and White Hair, and decided to watch them closely. She had a bad feeling about them, especially since Pyro seemed to be more than content to let her take the blame for all the stupid stunts that he'd pulled. The only one that she hadn't been blamed for was a married couple's deaths. They'd been burned to death in their home, although nothing in the home had burned. They were looking for the couple's 27 year old daughter.  
She smiled to herself as Sunglasses finally managed to talk the puddle back into human form. Yes, that girl was oddly familiar, but she shook her head and mumbled to herself. "Wait what is that?" Her eyes narrowed as she tried to make out the red mark on the girl's upper left arm.  
It was a bright flaming pair of red lips. The color of fire.  
  
**** Angel Creek Orphanage 15 years ago  
  
"Promise me Ky, we'll always be together." Katana demanded as the twins sat on the top bunk of one of the beds in the run down orphanage.  
  
"Always Tana. Even if we're adopted by different people I'll always be with you. Here." Kydra kissed her sisters upper left arm, in wonder Katana looked at the blue lips that formed there.  
"It's so cold." She rubbed the mark as if to rub some heat back into it.  
"Now you'll always have me with you and if I lose you I can always find you."  
Tana grinned her green eyes glinting in the night sky above them a fireball burned dimly giving the girls the light they needed. Ky had always been scared of the dark and so until she fell asleep Tana would leave a light burning as long as possible. They were good like that, each one protecting the other from the things they feared. Tana was afraid of the other kids in the orphanage, being laughed at because of her copper hair and pale skin. She was either known as Pastie or Carrot Top and Ky would always protect her from them.  
In turn Tana kissed Ky's arm and left a sizzling kiss mark that Ky blew on to release some of the heat.  
"Fire and Water Ky. Always together."  
Ky hooked her pinky around Tana's and squeezed. "Always and Forever."  
  
*** Angel Creek Today ***  
  
Katana watched closely as Blue Lady and Pyro started towards the girl she now knew was her twin Kydra, White Hair, and Sunglasses. "Oh no you don't." She muttered. One of the most fun things about being an artist and a fire mutant was being able to draw things in fire. She quickly drew a panther out of fire and sent it rushing at Pyro, who ended up flat on his ass screaming his head off. Katana laughed as Blue Lady gave him a look that clearly stated she had no clue what his problem was, but that he was definitely an idiot.  
Pyro stood up and flipped open the Zippo lighter. Pulling a massive fireball from it, he shoved towards Katana. Katana raised one eyebrow, then burst into a brilliant array of flames. She streaked towards Kydra, intent on protecting her newfound twin sister. Storm and Cyclops watched in amazement as the flames encircled Kydra, while gently guiding her onto the jet.  
"Well, I'm assuming that now we'll be taking both of them, since they're both on the jet." Cyclops smirked at Storm.  
"Just get on the jet and shut up." Storm snapped. Cyclops really was annoying her. She created a storm as a diversion while Cyclops got on the jet. Turning, she streaked onto the jet while Pyro and Mystique attempted to get their bearings again.  
  
"So what's your name?" Storm asked Katana. "I know that she's Kydra, but who are you and why are you being so protective of her?"  
Katana smiled at Storm. "My name is Katana." Storm looked at her.  
"No really, what's your name?" Storm looked at her.  
"Really, my name is Katana. What is your name?" Katana asked her.  
"I'm Storm, and that's Cyclops. You can also call him Scott, but most of us call him Cyclops." Storm answered. "Now, what's the deal with you and Kydra?"  
"Kydra is my twin sister. We were orphaned. I spent most of my childhood in an orphanage. When we were twelve, a family adopted her, but didn't want me as well." Katana looked at her twin, who'd fallen asleep. "We protected each other. She was terrified of the dark, and so I'd conjure a fireball to keep the room lit until she fell asleep. I was teased mercilessly for my hair and pale skin, so she protected me from the other kids. Where are we going?"  
"We live at a school for others like us. Mutants. It's run by Charles Xavier. We found Kydra because she'd suddenly appeared as a mutant, but she wasn't able to control her powers. Usually we pick up the ones who can't control their powers so that we can teach them to control their powers." Cyclops answered from the front. That Katana didn't look too bad. Maybe he'd take her for his girlfriend. That is if she'd drop the emotional ice queen act. He doubted that she'd do that, but hey, a guy could wish, couldn't he?  
Katana looked at her twin. "She should be able to control her powers. We've had them since we were about 11. We learned to control them together. It was actually great since if I set something on fire, she could put it out. She's really cool with some of the stuff she can do, but I'll let you guys figure that stuff out for yourselves. Besides, if she's having trouble controlling her powers, it must mean that she'd suppressed them for the sake of her new family."  
"So you know about mutants, and you know that there are others?" Storm asked her.  
"Yes, I know about them and I know that there are others. I also know how cruel regular humans can be to mutants and I know that a family with no mutants at all can suddenly spawn a mutant out of nowhere. That's what happened with me and Kydra. We came from a family with no mutants. When we started to show signs of our powers just after we turned 11, our parents took us to the orphanage. After that we were declared orphans. Our parents died in a car accident just two weeks after leaving us there. So we ended up being true orphans anyways."  
"Here we are. Xavier's School for Gifted Students." Cyclops stated. Kydra woke with a start as the jet landed, and her eyes widened when the jet sank underground as it landed. She began to look around wildly, searching for a way out of the darkness that began to creep into the jet. Katana quickly pulled out a fireball and hung it over her twin. Kydra began to relax and stared at Katana. Katana nodded to her.  
"Yes, Ky, it's me, Tana. I'm so glad I found you!" Tana cried as her twin hugged her.  
  
*** Xavier's School for Gifted Students ***  
  
When they entered the hallway for the first time, Tana laughed. There, in the hallway, stood a man who must have been having the most horrific bad hair day known to man. On either side of him stood two other mutants. All three looked to be about the same age. The woman had red hair with white bangs. The other man looked to be normal. Ky stared at him and Tana knew that he probably had some sort of water-based powers. But the man in the middle apparently scared Ky to death because she immediately cascaded into a puddle again. "Oh Ky." Tana breathed softly as she crouched next to her twin.  
"What the hell is that?" Wolverine asked as he stared at the puddle of water that was just a moment ago, a female human. Rogue snickered.  
"Well, it's most likely Kydra." The southern belle drawled. "I mean, you were told that Kydra was a water power. So that's Kydra. Now who that chick that's kneeling by her is, I don't know."  
"Well shit. I guess you frightened her Wolverine." Cyclops said. "Nice going. You really shouldn't greet new mutants to the school with your stupid claws beared."  
"Shut up, dick." Wolverine glared at Cyclops. In the couple of seconds he'd seen her before she'd dropped into her puddle like that, Wolverine had glimpsed a very beautiful girl. He turned his attention to Katana. "Might I ask your name?"  
"Katana, but for your purposes, since I'm well aware of the mutant penchant for renaming everyone, I am Kufury's Fire. What Kydra's mutant name is, I don't have a single clue. We're twins, separated in an orphanage when she was adopted and I wasn't." Katana sighed, hoping beyond hope that this was the last time she'd have to explain this to them. It was starting to get irritating. "Great, here comes another one." Tana thought. She was going to scream long and loud if too many more mutants showed up.  
The newest addition to what Tana was coming to think of as their welcoming party, was male and in Tana's opinion, very cute. She wondered briefly what his powers were and then turned her attention back to the rest of the group. "Ok, I'd like to know who the hell you people are, because not having any names for you is really starting to piss me off."  
"Well, I'm Rogue." The woman said. "The one on my right is Wolverine or Logan, whichever you prefer to call him. The guy on the other side of Logan is Iceman, or Bobby if you prefer. And the one who just came up to say hello is Alec. He's new here too and hasn't yet picked his mutant name, as you call it." Alec glanced over to the girl kneeling by a puddle of what appeared to be water. He watched in amusement as the puddle began to trickle towards the nearest doorway. He looked at the girl.  
"I think your puddle is trying to leave." Alec smiled. Tana laughed and shook her head as her sister flowed away.  
"She's going somewhere else to pull herself together. She's frightened. I'm not sure why, but she is." Tana said. She watched as her sister flowed under a door. A few seconds later, the door opened and Kydra came out. Tana grinned as she read her sister's thoughts. Her sister had flowed under the nearest door, which it turned out, was a coat closet. "Ky, why don't you say hello to everyone?"  
Ky looked at Tana, but didn't say anything. Tana tipped her head to one side, then glanced back over at the others.  
"She must be tired." Storm smiled. "We'll find you guys a room and let you get some rest. She'll probably feel better tomorrow."  
"How about we put her in an aquarium?" Wolverine snarled. Rogue smacked him. "Fine, the bathtub? Kitchen sink? After all, we wouldn't want her ruining a mattress because she turned into a puddle of water in the middle of the night because a damned owl farted in the middle of the night."  
Storm gave him an exasperated look and herded the twins off to an empty room. "Don't mind him. For some reason, he's been a major ass today and none of us have been able to figure out why. He gets this way sometimes. Don't worry, he should be his normal sunny self tomorrow. By the way, this room is actually next to his, and he has nightmares. Don't try to touch him if you hear him. Last time someone did that, they got speared by his claws."  
"Good to know." Tana said. She turned her attention to her sister who was curling up into a ball on the bed. "Ky, would you like me to generate a nightlight for you?" Ky nodded as she curled into a tighter ball. Tana pulled a small fireball out of nowhere and hung it above Ky's bed. "Some things just never change, do they Ky?" Ky shook her head, then yawned. "All right, I'll let you sleep. Good night Ky." Ky nodded her goodnight, then snuggled down under her blanket.  
Tana stared at the ceiling as she listened to her sister's breathing. Her sister could always fall asleep so easily as if she had no worries and yet she was so frightened of everything. What had happened to her to make the precocious child of her youth disappear so completely? And what was Katana supposed to do? Move everything? Give up her life and her art to live in some school over run by mutants intent on saving the rest of their kind from the dreaded humans? She was not the hero type, hell she wasn't even a social type but they had helped her to track down her twin. Maybe she and Ky could take off find a place in the middle of nowhere. Like Montana maybe Ky could take up ice sculptures or something. Nah Ky had always been more into music than anything else. She could make a wind chime out of shards of ice that tinkled with music so beautiful it could make a person cry from the pure serenity of it. Why should they be concerned about the world when the world hadn't cared about them?  
What other place could allow a set of twins to be ripped away from each other after being just as tragically tossed aside by parents that saw there abilities as a disease rather than a gift that could be used for beauty. As far as she was concerned the world could bite her ass, but what about Ky? Ky seemed to be happy here she wouldn't want to leave not with thoughts of the very manly Wolverine floating like sugar plums in her head. Tana would leave Ky here to learn what ignorant humans had helped her to forget and she...she would lose herself somewhere in the wilds of freezing Montana and create.  
Deciding that now would be the optimum time to leave, while Ky was sleeping Tana got out of bed and hurried to the door. It slid open with ease and Tana quickly tip-toed down the hall seeing the front door as her best option. It wasn't that she was doing anything wrong, she had nothing to be guilty about it was just that it would be easier for all involved if she made a quick exit.  
"Going so soon? Should we check to make sure all the silver is still here?" Tana looked at the man she recognized as Alec.  
"Crowds really aren't my thing. I thought that I'd blaze before things got complicated but now you're making it complicated."  
"Complicated is my middle name."  
"Please. Get a new line. Tell Ky I'll be in touch."  
As Katana turned a vine flung from his hand wrapped itself around her wrist.  
"Tell your vines to creep somewhere else." She hissed, fire ringed around the vine and suddenly burst out freeing her from the plant's grasp.  
"Ow." He shook his hand as if it had been the one on fire.  
"Why? Am I a little too hot for you to handle?"  
"Don't worry I can handle myself." Alec grinned.  
"Oh really? Seems to me that I handled you better than you handled me. After all, that vine didn't last too long after I set it on fire." Tana smirked. Damn but that boy was good looking. But she didn't have time for this. She needed to get the hell out of that school for mutants before Ky woke up. Once her twin was awake, there would be no getting away. Not that she didn't love her twin very much, but it just wasn't her thing to be with a crowd and she would very soon be feeling suffocated. "Look, I need to get out of here before my sister wakes up."  
"You think running away is going to solve anything?" Alec stared at Tana. "Come on, that's the lamest thing I've ever heard in my life. You need to stay here and take care of your sister. I don't know what's up with her, but she's going to need someone on her side."  
"Look! I am leaving. End of story." Tana turned around and headed for the front door again. The next thing she knew, Ky was standing in front of her, tears rolling down her face. The look in her eyes said it all for Tana. That look told Tana that Ky had been broken. Now she definitely couldn't leave here.  
"Looks like your sister has discovered that you are intending to leave." Alec smirked. He had a feeling that now that Kydra had come out of her room, Katana wouldn't be leaving after all.  
Tana stared at the girl standing before her. Ky's spirit had been broken, she could feel it. But who or what had done it? What happened? Who did it? That was something Tana was going to have to find out. Ky needed her right now, and if that meant staying here, then so be it. But it didn't mean she'd have to like it.  
A disheveled and rather disgruntled looking Wolverine poked his head out of his bedroom door. "Look, if you guys are finished babbling about whatever the hell you're talking about out here, I'd appreciate it if you'd buzz off back to your own rooms. I'm trying to sleep in here in case you weren't aware of that fact."  
Out of spite Tana flicked her wrist and sent a funnel of flames at the sleepy Wolverine. With a shout Wolverine fell back in an attempt to escape the fire. He landed on his ass about the same time Ky liquidated herself for the millionth time it seemed. Frustrated Tana looked at the puddle.  
"Chill out chica, jeez."  
She ushered the puddle back to the room, sending one last look over her shoulder to see Alec smirking. Good looking or not she was about to get irritated with Plant Man.  
  
****Xavier's Study  
  
"Good morning girls. I am Charles Xavier. I built this school for the purpose of educating and protecting mutants." Xavier looked at the twins. He'd been informed by Storm and Cyclops that Kydra had a twin sister and that the sister was here with Kydra.  
"Good morning Mr. Xavier." Kydra thought. Xavier smiled.  
"Good morning Mr. Xavier." Tana said. Again, Xavier smiled.  
"It would seem that only one of you actually speaks out loud. No matter. I am a telepath. Neither of you need to actually speak to me in order for me to hear what you are saying. You need only think it. I can also communicate to you by thought if you prefer." Xavier looked at the girls. He could already tell that Kydra would not speak. But he wouldn't read her mind unless she asked him to.  
"I think my sister would prefer to communicate in thought however thankfully I have a big mouth."  
Xavier chuckled.  
"Good then. I have been wondering how you managed to be in the midst of our search and rescue."  
Tana raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you supposed to be able to tell every mutants powers and all?"  
"I understand like your sister you can not only manipulate fire but become it as well, creating fire out of thin air, but that does not explain why you were there."  
"You ever watch that show Highlander? It's kind of like how they can sense another of their kind. I can sense mutants that use fire. When Ky remembers she can sense those who use water. I was tracking him down because his pranks cost me my home and business. Ky just happened to be running from them when I showed up. Kind of like that thing people call destiny and all."  
"Who were you tracking?"  
"That idiot punk, Pyro. You know, he thinks he's so hot with fire and all, but yet he needs a cigarette lighter or some other source of fire already going before he can actually do anything with the fire."  
"I might have guessed. Was there a blue woman with him?"  
"Yes. Who the hell was that? I've been trying to figure that out, but I didn't want to ask just in case it was sore spot with someone."  
"Her name is Mystique. She can take on any form she wishes. She seems to prefer doing things on the wrong side of the law in order to fight for mutant freedom. My old friend Magneto seems to think that his underhanded tricks are going to ensure freedom for mutants. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to realize that all he's doing is enforcing the beliefs about us that humans who don't understand us hold."  
"That's one of the reasons I don't like dealing with humans. I also don't care to deal with mutants. I'm a loner, with the exception of loving my sister's company."  
"I can understand your feelings on that. There are times when all of us feel like they don't want to deal with mutants or humans."  
"Please, I don't mean to be rude and interrupt, but I'm wondering exactly what we do here." Kydra's thoughts cut through both Tana and Xavier's head.  
"Well, one of the things we do here is help mutants such as yourself learn to control their powers. We also run a regular school where students learn to do all of the things human kids learn in their regular schools." Xavier smiled at Kydra. "Now, as for your sister, she seems to have perfect control of her powers, so we'll just let her do her own thing. I gather that you are an artist. Cyclops will show you to a place where you can do your artwork with minimal interruptions."  
That was what Katana had been dying to hear. Turning she followed the one she would have rather called Jack Ass out the door. She stopped just before she left and turned back to her sister. "You'll be okay?"  
Ky didn't so much as nod but whatever passed between them was enough to ensure that Ky would be fine. Satisfied Katana followed Cyclops to the garage.  
"So what kind of artwork do you do?" Cyclops asked trying to be nice.  
"Metal." Katana stated matter-of-factly.  
She walked into the garage as he opened the door for her and then turning to him smiled widely enough to stun the one-eyed mutant enough that he didn't stop her from slamming the door in his face.  
  
***Back in Xavier's Office  
  
Xavier smiled as Ky's new teacher walked in. The chemistry between these two was interesting. "Wolverine, I take it you've met Kydra. She'll be your student. You need to teach her to control her powers." Wolverine looked at Kydra. Kydra, as always, immediately liquefied into a puddle. Xavier laughed. "I see that she's a bit nervous around you. I'll leave the two of you alone so you can get to know each other better." Xavier left the study, chuckling as he went.  
"Ok, I haven't the slightest idea of what your problem is, but I'm telling you now, if you don't stop cascading into a puddle of water every damn time I come within twenty feet of you, I'm going to mop you up and put you in a glass. Got it?"  
Ky solidified herself and promptly produced an ice ball, which she winged at his head. He ducked, the ball narrowly missing him. Not realizing that he couldn't read her mind like Xavier and Tana could, she sent a thought out to him. "Fuck you. Just because I'm nervous doesn't mean you have to be such an asshole." She quickly realized that he couldn't read minds. She grabbed a piece of paper and wrote her message on it, then handed it to him.  
Wolverine took the paper she offered him. He laughed when he read the message. "Look, if you promise to work on this little habit of yours, I promise to stop being an asshole. Ok?"  
Ky nodded. She took the paper back and wrote another note on it. "My friends call me Ky." She handed him the paper back and smiled.  
"Well Ky, my friends and enemies alike usually call me Logan. Do you have what your sister calls a mutant name?" Logan asked her.  
Again she wrote on the paper. "No. I have no idea what my name could or would be."  
Logan smiled. "Well now, Ky, since your power is water, I figure that your name could involve water. But Water doesn't seem like a very good name, does it?"  
Ky shook her head. Grabbing a new piece of paper, she wrote another message on it. "Well, my favorite flowers are lilies. You know, Waterlily??"  
Logan read the note. "I like it. Let's see how your sister likes it."  
Ky nodded. She wrote another note to him. "Look, just because I let you call me Ky, and just because I call you Logan, and just because you and I figured out my mutant name doesn't mean that you don't still make me nervous. I'm still extremely nervous around you. I may still drop into a puddle around you, but then again, I do that anytime I get nervous and it's not just because of you. So back off about that ok?"  
So the girl did have a little of her sister's fire in her after all. That may be promising.  
"Shall we go see your sister?" Wolverine asked looking into Waterlily's gray almost silver eyes. She was actually quite beautiful.  
Ky nodded as she walked out the door, Wolverine behind her.  
  
***The Garage  
  
"I thought you might be thirsty." Cyclops yelled over the noise of the raging fire that Katana held in her hands. Sparks flew as she welded metal against metal in an attempt to mold unbendable objects into something of beauty.  
"Thanks but no thanks. I prefer to do my art alone." She blew out the fountains of fire and turned giving Cyclops one of her best glares.  
"You know your eyes are really beautiful when you're mad." Cyclops smiled setting a soda on the edge of her work table.  
"What part of go away do you not understand?" Katana's palms itched as she backed away.  
"Oh come on. Somebody who can burn like you can't be as frigid as you pretend to be." Cyclops wandered closer.  
"Egotistical man. Just because a girl is not interested she's frigid. Do you want to see how hot I can burn? Do you want to feel me melt in your arms?" Katana stopped backing away and started to step forward.  
Cyclops smiled as he reached out to her.  
Katana flung her hands up sending a ring of fire around his throat if moved even a step he would be burned but Tana wasn't done yet since everything she did was art she sent two more rings that encircled his wrists and held them high above his head while a fourth ring circled his legs. Breathing heavily he struggled to keep himself from falling into the flames. Satisfied she turned back to her work.  
Wolverine walked through the door way and laughed as he saw the predicament his dear old buddy Cyclops was in. "I'm beginning to think I got stuck with the easy one. What did you do to piss her off, Cyclops? Ask her back to your room for a night cap?"  
Cyclops attempted a sneer but that would have broken his concentration and that would not have been good.  
"Waterlily can you help Jack Ass out?" Wolverine asked gesturing to the idiot.  
Ky looked at her sister who was ignoring the intrusion to the best of her ability. Suddenly she looked at her sister. Sure you can just make sure he stays away from me, her mind relayed to her sister.  
The rings around Cyclops transformed into ice but for good measure and to make sure that Cyclops got the idea to leave her sister alone she formed a huge rain drop above Cyclops head and let it fall. Standing drenched and humiliated he glared at the trio before storming by them and back into the house.  
"So you found a name, huh? Waterlily? I like it." Tana said as she watched the metal cool on her project.  
Ky nodded. Tana tipped her head. How do you communicate with him? Her mind relayed the question to her sister.  
Easy. I write everything down. Ky sent the message back. Wolverine stood staring at the twins. They were both beautiful, but for some reason, the fiery redheaded Katana just didn't appeal to him the way the icy eyed Kydra did. Tana laughed.  
"So you have to have my sister write everything down for you, huh?"  
"Yes, but I figure that eventually, she'll start actually talking." Wolverine glanced over at Ky. Ky looked irritated at the fact that she was being talked about as if she wasn't even there. She began to play with her hands, waving them softly in the air. All of a sudden, the most beautiful music began to play. Wolverine looked up above him to find a wind chime made of ice.  
"She did that when we were 11. She always made the most beautiful wind chimes. She can actually make them play specific songs if she wants to. Apparently this time she didn't want to." Tana smiled. "I never thought I'd see her make a wind chime again."  
"So you make wind chimes?" Wolverine smiled at Ky.  
Ky nodded. I used to make them all the time. I love wind chimes. The fun part is making them so that when they blow in the wind, they play a specific song. My favorite to make them play is Fur Elise. That's my favorite classical piece. Ky sent the message to her sister, who relayed it back to Wolverine.  
"Ok, we need to get working. Let's head back upstairs to Xavier's study." Wolverine looked at Tana. "If you like, you can come too." Tana shook her head.  
"No thanks. I've got some work to do here on my art. I'm a welder. Xavier gave me room here to have some fun and do my art." Tana grinned. "I'm perfectly happy here."  
"Ok, have it your way." Wolverine gave Tana a grin as he headed for the elevator.  
  
*** Xavier's Study ***  
  
"OK, so we need to teach you to control your powers better. Well then, let's see what we can do." Wolverine smiled at Ky. Ky smiled back as Xavier came into the room.  
"Oh, I see you are still working. I'll leave the two of you to your lessons." Xavier smiled at his newest student and her teacher.  
No, stay, please. I have to write everything down for Wolverine and I'm tired of writing. Ky sent the message off to Xavier. Xavier laughed and went behind his desk.  
"Apparently she wants me to stay here so I can translate her words to you instead of her having to write everything down." Xavier looked at Wolverine. "I trust that's ok with you."  
"Fine by me." Wolverine stated. "Xavier, we've named her. You want me to tell him or do you want to tell him your name?" Ky pointed to Wolverine. "We've decided that her name is going to be Waterlily. She likes lilies and she's a water power."  
"Good choice. It suits her." Xavier smiled at Ky. "Now if you two want to continue your lessons, go right ahead."  
  
*** Back in the Garage  
  
Katana heard the garage door open and inwardly groaned. Montana was looking really good right about now.  
"Cyclops if you don't learn to leave me the hell alone you're going to have a lot of pretty little scars to go with that one eye of yours."  
"I take it you've had some interruptions today."  
She recognized Alec's voice and stifled a growl at the third distraction for the day. This way she would never finish one decent piece.  
"What you have a garden that needs tending?" She snapped.  
"No among other things I am also the mechanic around here and unfortunately Logan and Scott's feud generates a lot of havoc on the engines of Scott's cars and bikes. I'll be as quiet as I can."  
Katana was speechless. Well for a moment anyways. "We're going to have to make some rules if we're going to be sharing the garage."  
"I thought you didn't like to make things complicated."  
"I don't. That's why we're going to have to have rules. Music is picked by the one that's here first. No talking, no touching. Got it?"  
"Sure, whatever you say Ice Queen."  
"Why is everyone calling me frigid? I don't like people is there a problem with that?"  
"No but usually there is a reason for it."  
"Whatever."  
"Want to talk about it?"  
"Did I not just say No Talking?"  
"Fine."  
"Fine."  
  
*** Back in Xavier's Study  
  
Kydra was starting to get pissed off. She was sick and tired of pulling balls of water or ice out of thin air and making them disappear again. She was bored with making waves in a bowl of water. She wanted to either make a couple of wind chimes or she wanted to be left alone with her music. Besides her twin, music was her world. She loved music and played several instruments as well as being a singer. But Wolverine wouldn't leave her alone. I've had enough! Her mind screamed toward Xavier. The older man chuckled and relayed the message to Wolverine.  
"Oh, so the little princess is finished with her teacher and wants him to leave her alone, huh? Funny, I thought the teacher was the one who called the shots in the classroom, not the student. You'll be done when I say you're done." Wolverine growled.  
Fine, Kydra thought. We'll see about that. Xavier hid a grin behind a book when she promptly pulled a giant raindrop out and dropped it on Wolverine's head. Wolverine shook himself off and his claws came out. Kydra promptly dropped into a puddle of water and with his eye rolled he turned towards Xavier who was trying to stop himself from laughing by the newest message that Ky had sent. "You want a wave? I'll give you a wave!"  
Wolverine heard trickling behind him and assumed it was Ky returning.  
"Oh does the Princess want to apologize?"  
Xavier began to wheel himself backwards as he saw the tiny ring of water wind itself around Logan. The ring began to grow until it towered over a puzzled Wolverine.  
"What in the hell?"  
The theme song to Jaws began to play it seemed from the water itself. Wolverine looked through the wall of water to the professor.  
"Waterlily says Tidal Wave." Xavier choked out from his laughter.  
Wolverine got the point a minute later.  
  
****The Hallway  
  
Cyclops walked in from the kitchen to see a drenched Wolverine. "Still believe you got the easy one?"  
"Those two aren't Mutants. They are demonic angels from hell. They side wind you with those 24 karat smiles and then bam you're on your back still trying to figure out if you should run like a scared rabbit in the opposite direction or try your luck again."  
"In other words you pissed her off?"  
"Oh yeah. I am just glad that they weren't together. Wonder how Alec is faring with the Fire Goddess."  
"One thing we can be sure of it ends up badly we'll know. They voice their opinions quite loudly don't they?"  
Wolverine walked into the kitchen and searched the fridge for the ever elusive beer. "I got the message loud and clear."  
  
****Back in the Garage  
  
"Nice." Alec stated quietly as he moved behind Katana.  
Katana looked up at what she had been able to achieve. To a regular person it was simply twisted bars and metal but to Katana it was a reunion with the other half of her soul. Light and dark, peaceful and hectic, cold and hot. Kydra and Katana reunited to form one single form.  
Alec looked at the woman's figure in one hand it held a cobalt globe in the other a crimson one. One eye was green one was silver. Half of the metal wisps she had used for hair was red the other brown. The side that held the red glass had a tear dripping down it's cheek. Alec didn't think that the tear represented her happiness at the finding of her sister but at an inner turmoil that Alec knew only too well. This sister was going to need to be wooed rather than a whirlwind. She needed to be coaxed and until she was where he needed her it was going to be pure hell getting there.  
"Thanks."  
"Why is she so sad?"  
"It's art you say she's sad I say she's happy. It's your impression and who said you could talk anyways?"  
"You don't take compliments very well do you?"  
"That depends."  
"On what?"  
"If the compliment comes from a human."  
"Ah that whole intimacy issue again?"  
"People make me claustrophobic."  
"I think you're scared of them."  
"So not only are you are chia pet mutant and a mechanic but a shrink as well. Was this Xavier's idea or are you working Pro Bono?" She pushed past him only to land flat on her ass looking up at the boy's grinning face.  
"You're giving me the heebie jeebies." Katana snarled as she jumped up her clenched fists at her sides.  
Vines swung out to wrap around her but she caught them instead running around him until he was tied up as neat as a package.  
Tossing him a seductive look she winked. "It seems Tarzan that you are all tangled up. I'd watch where you swing if I were you."  
  
***The Hallway  
Cyclops ducked into another room as he saw Kufury's Fire heading his way. He'd already tangled with her once and wasn't willing to do it again.  
Wolverine watched her storm past knowing she was heading for the other one.  
"Shall we go see how our dear friend Alec fared?"  
Wolverine grinned as he and Cyclops headed for the garage. They arrived to find Alec attempting to hop his way out of the garage. "Thank God! Cut me loose! Cut me loose!"  
"What the hell happened to you?" Cyclops could barely contain his laughter.  
"What the hell do you think happened asshole?" Alec growled. "I tried to catch her with some vines and she grabbed them and wrapped my ass up in them. You just never know what to expect from that one."  
"Don't mess with her sister either." Wolverine was still trying to get the water out of his ears after Ky's tidal wave.  
Cyclops shook his head. "I think I'm going to stay far, far away from those two from now on. Wolverine, cut him loose. You have the knives."  
Wolverine cut Alec loose. "I think we all need to just head off to bed and hope they don't kill us in our sleep!"  
  
Katana stormed into her bedroom, to find Kydra already sitting on her bed. It figured that every light Ky could find would be blazing in that room. Kydra looked at her sister. What happened? Cyclops come bugging you again? She sent the message off to her sister.  
"No, but did you know we have our own in house shrink? He even works for free. Wanna know how I know? Because Garden Boy decided to diagnose my attitude problem for me."  
What the hell are you talking about? Or is he trying to figure out why you're always such a bitch? Not that it matters, you've been a bitch most of your life. Ky grinned.  
"Nice baby sister, real nice. Love you too. But I happen to know I'm a bitch, and I like being a bitch. But I don't need a chia pet telling me what my work means based on what my darkest, innermost feelings are. I didn't even know I HAD darkest, innermost feelings, but I guess I do since our resident chia pet says so."  
Remind me again, which one is the chia pet?  
"Alec. You know, the cute one?"  
Wolverine's the cute one.  
"I suppose so, if you happen to like guys with perpetual bad hair days."  
I like the claws.  
"Kinky, Ky, real kinky. You're weird. Besides, if you like the damn claws, why do you freak out every time they appear?"  
Oh, and I suppose wrapping the guy you think is cute up in vines is so much better? You're turning into a bondage freak right before my eyes.  
"Such a filthy mind slut."  
Bimbo.  
"I can't believe you just called me that! Do I look blonde to you? Am I wearing stiletto heels and a push up bra?"  
No, but you could use the push up bra. There's nothing there to see, is there sis?  
  
***The Hallway  
  
Wolverine shook his head. If he hadn't known the other one was in there he would have thought the Fire Amazon was having a one sided conversation. Weird. And who was she talking about with the bad hair? Self consciously he ran his hands over his hair. So Tana had a thing for Alec, well he supposed love was blind because he couldn't see anything in Alec. Ky liked his claws? He hadn't really thought of it as a turn on before but then again he had always been distracted with Ky's habit of puddling every time they came out. As the girl talk subsided he went back to his own room. He really needed sleep and a strong pain killer his head was still pounding from his wipe out.  
  
***Later that night  
  
Ky woke up with a jerk. Dreams of fire and death swam in the recesses of her mind and even her sister's night lights didn't help. Quietly she got out of bed and walked to the kitchen to see if they had any chamomile tea. Anything that would soothe away the panic. After turning on the tea kettle she wandered back into the hallway. She thought she heard Tana's voice coming from the door leading to Wolverine's room. Curious she pushed open the door and stared in horror. Tana was indeed in Logan's room sitting on Logan's bed with her night shirt more off than on and Wolverine's hand on Tana's stomach. No it couldn't be. Tana knew she liked Wolverine. She sent a silent message to her sister demanding an explanation but Tana didn't seem to notice. Angrily and upset she backed out running down the hall in the other direction.  
Tana awoke to see her sister wasn't in bed. The tea kettle's shrill whistle had brought her out of a deep sleep. Tiredly she waved her hand and the fire beneath the kettle went out. Slipping out of bed she wandered to her doorway to see Logan standing outside looking a little dazed.  
"Where is my sister?" She demanded.  
"How did you get back in there?"  
"What?"  
"You just ran down the hall after Ky."  
"You have three seconds to make sense before I toast your ass."  
"I woke up to you in bed beside me. You tried to kiss me I tried to push you away. Ky walked in and saw you in there with me and took off running. You followed her so how the hell did you get back in your bed?"  
"I haven't left my bed since I laid down to sleep. The tea kettle woke me up."  
"So you want me to believe that some mutant changed itself into you ... Oh God Mystique!"  
"Which way did they go?"  
"This way follow me."  
She followed Wolverine down the hall trying to tap into her sister but failing. Wolverine turned down a hallway, as Tana looked out the terrace doors. There she saw Pyro leading her sister to a helicopter that was parked on the lawn. She started to go out the terrace doors when she heard Wolverine turn around and start heading towards her. She looked back at him and with a couple waves of her hand, she encircled him with a ring of fire. "Sorry Logan. This is a family matter." With that, she went out the terrace doors, and headed for the helicopter and her sister.  
When Tana got into the helicopter, the first thing she noticed was that Mystique was there, but that her sister was not. She narrowed her eyes as the helicopter lifted off the ground. "Where the hell is my sister?" She bellowed.  
"Don't worry, your precious sister is safe and sound. In fact, she's still back there, somewhere in the school, hiding. Last I saw of her, she was sitting in Xavier's study, having a good crying jag over Wolverine's apparent preference for you, and over your betrayal of her with Wolverine."  
  
**** Magento's Base  
  
Magneto stood at the helipad, waiting for the arrival of the helicopter. When the helicopter landed, he walked towards the group of mutants that got out. "Katana. Welcome to our merry little band."  
"And who the hell are you? Robin Fucking Hood?" Katana spat. "I want you to take me back to the school, NOW!"  
"Why on earth would you want to go back there? Seems to me that all anyone there ever did was annoy you."  
"Because my sister is there. That's why asshole."  
"No need for strong language. We're on the same side, we just take a more hands-on approach to getting freedom for the mutant population of the world."  
"What makes you think I'm on anyone's side? Quite frankly I'm perfectly happy being by myself or with my twin. As far as I'm concerned, the rest of the world could die off and I wouldn't even notice."  
"Such ignorance is unattractive in a mutant of your caliber."  
"Ignorance is bliss, or hasn't anyone told you that yet? So if you'll excuse me, I'll be taking my ignorant self back to the school and my sister." With that, Katana turned to leave.  
Magneto lifted his hands and Katana's feet left the ground. "Katana, please don't make this harder than it has to be. I can control anything made of metal. Which means that the handcuffs around your wrists are easily manipulated by me. If I wish, I can drag you into the house by the handcuffs and you will be unable to do anything about it. So are you going to do this the easy way, or the hard way?"  
Magneto got his answer when out of nowhere a fireball flew towards Mystique, who screamed, unable to get out of the way in time. "Nobody ever said I was easy, and they sure as hell aren't going to start now." Pyro started to flip open his lighter. "Put that little thing away boy. You're messing with the big leagues now. I don't need toys like that to kick your ass." Slowly the chains between her handcuffs started to glow brighter and brighter red until they started to turn white. She pulled her hands apart and grinned. "There, much better. At least now I can move my hands around." She pulled out a fireball and threw it at a stunned Pyro. He didn't duck in time, nor did he manage to control the fireball that was coming at him. He simply never had the chance.  
"You're very good at this Katana. Tell me, how did you learn to control your powers so well?" Under other circumstances, Magento wouldn't have cared, but usually one did not find such exquisite control of powers in a mutant that had not had some sort of formal training.  
"I learned on my own. I've had 16 years to learn what I can and what I can't do. Now take me back to my sister!"  
Magneto simply shook his head no, and used the handcuffs to drag her into the house and place her in a tightly locked room. He glanced over at Mystique who was still recovering from the fireball attack. "Get Bender in here. Obviously, we're going to need a little assistance with that one."  
Mystique nodded and went to find Bender. Bender was a telepath who also had the ability to hypnotize and control minds. She sent Bender to Magneto's study.  
  
**** Magneto's Study  
  
"You wanted to see me?" Bender asked his boss.  
"Yes, I need you to perform some mind control on a new acquisition of mine. She's not being too cooperative and I desperately need to get my hands on her twin sister. I need you to make her believe that the X-Men are evil and that they are going to corrupt her sister. Make her believe that they will turn her sister against her if she doesn't do something to stop it now. One thing you will not be able to do is turn her against her sister. She's too strong for that, but I've sensed that her sister is currently in a weakened mental state which will facilitate the illusion that the X-Men could turn her against Katana."  
"Whatever you say boss." Bender shrugged and headed down the hallway towards the new girl's room.  
  
**** Katana's Room  
  
"Hello Katana. My name is Bender. I've been called that for so long, I don't remember what my parents actually named me. How are you this evening?" Bender smiled at the pretty girl in front of him. Shame that he had to actually use his powers on her. She might have been an interesting person to talk with.  
"I'm fine with the exception of having been tricked into getting on a helicopter, and being brought here away from the sister it took me 15 years to find." Katana sat on her bed, looking just about as pissed off as any woman could possibly look. "The only thing I want you to tell me is that I can go back to the school and my sister."  
"Well now, that's the thing. You don't want to go back. In fact you need to convince your sister to leave that school. That school is bad place. They teach the mutants there that the only way to mutant freedom in this world is to frighten or kill all those who oppose mutant freedom, or who are afraid of the mutants. But we prefer a more peaceful approach." Bender smiled.  
"You call trickery and handcuffing me, dragging me in here by those same handcuffs, and being locked away in this prison of a room a peaceful approach? What kind of fucking moron are you?" Katana hissed.  
"It was the only way to get you out of there. It's too bad we couldn't get your sister too. After all, what they'll do now is brainwash her into thinking that you have fled to the other side and that you are the enemy. They'll make her think we are bad, and that in turn will make her think you are bad because they'll have told her that you willingly joined up with us because you thought we were better than they are. We are better than they are, but that is beside the point. They will make us out to be evil, when in fact they are the ones who are evil. Do you want to have to fight your sister? Do you want to have to face her if and when the time comes, and know that she's been brainwashed into hating you for having the courage to stand up and take a peaceful approach to mutant freedom?"  
"Maybe no one bothered to tell you, Bender, but I'm not on either side. I'm neutral because I hate mutants and humans alike. I really could care less. As long as I have myself and my sister, I really don't care if the rest of the world is here or on another planet."  
"Have you listened to a word I have said? If your sister stays there you won't have a sister for long!"  
"Whatever. I don't believe that. You just want me to believe that so I'll be willing to bring her here to you guys. Whatever." Bender could see that this was going to be more difficult than he thought. "Come with me. I want to show you something." He led Tana down the hall to a large room that looked like a movie theater. It had movie theater seats as well as a movie screen at one end. He had her sit in one of the seats while he put a movie of one of the last battles that Magneto's crew had with the X-Men. He sent out a few brainwaves to Tana that changed the perspective. The X-Men now looked like Magneto's crew and vice versa. Now that she had visual proof of the X-Men's evil ways, she should be easier to control. Tana looked on in horror as she watched Wolverine attempt to assassinate a senator. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn't have believed it. She watched as the others, the ones who'd been so nice to her killed, maimed, and frightened the people who opposed their cause. Tears welled up in her eyes. She may not be fond of the rest of the world, but she still had a deep respect for life. She had to get her sister out of there before they made her into what they were.  
"I will join you. I have to save my sister from those monsters. I couldn't believe you when you said they were like this, but now that I've seen it with my own eyes, I can't escape the horrifying truth. They are murderers. I can't let them corrupt Kydra."  
"I will let Magneto know that you have decided to join our team. He will be most pleased."  
Katana nodded. "Ask him if he can please remove these handcuffs now. I'm growing weary of them."  
Bender agreed and led Katana back to her room. He didn't bother to lock the door this time, as he knew that she wouldn't be bothering to try and escape. He had her lock, stock, and barrel, and all he had to do was keep feeding her mental images of the X-Men causing great carnage and she'd stay on their side.  
  
**** Magneto's Study  
  
"She's on our side. She wants the handcuffs removed. I couldn't get her by words, but through images, I was able to make her see what I was trying to tell her. She wants her sister away from them. I made sure to have Wolverine be a killer in the images I fed to her mind because I picked up on the fact that Kydra is attracted to him. There shouldn't be any problem. After all, her twin sister is her life. She'll stop at nothing to save her from a life that she believes will crush that twin sister." Bender grinned at Magneto.  
"Good, good. Now that Katana is on our side, we should start preparing her for the mission of saving her sister. We're going to take her back to the school. She is to pretend that everything is the same as it was for outward appearances. However, whenever the twins are together, she will attempt to bring her twin to our side. There is one thing that I do want to make perfectly clear. In the event that Kydra will not come to us, Katana is to destroy her. Although she won't turn on her twin now, if she believes that her twin has been turned evil, she will destroy her rather than allow her to continue on as the monster the X-Men have made her." Magneto laughed as he strolled down the hallway to Katana's room, where he entered and removed the handcuffs from her wrists.  
  
**** Katana's Room  
  
"You have made an excellent choice my dear." Magneto smiled at Tana as he removed the handcuffs.  
"I must get my sister out of there." Tana looked at Magneto. "Will you help me?"  
"Of course Katana. I will do everything in my power to help you get your sister out of that horrible place. Hard to believe that people so nice can be such killers, isn't it?"  
"Very hard to believe. But I saw the proof with my own eyes. I can't deny what I have seen. I have to get my sister out of there as soon as I can." Tana's eyes filled with tears again at the thought of her baby sister being brainwashed into thinking that she was the enemy.  
"Well, this is what we're going to do. In order for you to get your sister out of there, you need to go back to the school." Magneto held up a hand to stop Katana from protesting. "Hear me out on this. When you and Kydra are around the others, you will act as though you are perfectly happy to be there. However, when you and your sister are alone, you will convince her to leave with you and come here."  
"All right, when do I leave?"  
"In a few days. We need to train you to fight. Just in case they've already turned your sister against you, you'll need to know what to do."  
"I don't want to think about that particular scenario, but I under stand what you are trying to say."  
"Good, we'll begin your training in the morning."  
  
**** Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters  
  
Wolverine saw her, but he didn't believe it was her. He'd seen her being led out to the helicopter by Pyro, and he knew that Mystique was the only one who could fly that whirlybird. Since the blades had been spinning, he knew that she had to have already been in the chopper. So how could Ky be here at the school when he knew he'd seen her being put on that damned helicopter? He grabbed her. "Oh no you don't, Mystique. You're going to tell me everything and you're going to tell me right now. I want to know what you've done with Tana and Ky."  
When Ky didn't say anything, Wolverine tipped his head to the side. "Ky? Is that you?" Ky nodded. "I'm going to let go of you, then I'm going to do something to make you prove that you really are Ky, ok?" Ky nodded again. Wolverine let her go, then bared his claws. Almost immediately there was a puddle of water where Ky had stood. Wolverine smiled. "Yep, it's you Ky. Mystique might be able to make herself look like you, but she sure as hell couldn't drop to a puddle like that."  
Ky morphed back into human form and gave Wolverine a frantic look. She looked around for something to write on, when Xavier came out of his room, having been awakened by Ky's frantic thoughts. "She wants to know where Katana is. Wolverine, do you know where her sister is?"  
"She went with Mystique and Pyro. She was following who she thought was Ky. Katana must be at Magneto's base camp."  
Ky looked from Wolverine to Xavier and back to Wolverine. Tears shone in her eyes as every sink, shower, bathtub, and toilet in the place began to overflow with water. Wolverine heard the water flowing and muttered a curse under his breath. Poor Ky was so upset over her sister's kidnapping that she was losing control of her powers. "Ky, you have to pull your powers back. You're going to flood the place." Ky shook her head.  
"She can't, she doesn't know how." Xavier said. "She's not used to this type of emotional outburst. She doesn't know what to do to pull back her powers in this situation."  
"Xavier, get Rogue."  
"No Wolverine. You can tell her what to do."  
"Damn it Xavier, get Rogue."  
"No! She needs to learn to pull her powers back without the assistance of Rogue's ability to take the powers from her temporarily."  
"Fine! Ky, you have to pull your powers back. Just imagine all that power that's flowing out of you, controlling the water flowing back into you." Ky did as Wolverine asked and slowly but surely everything stopped running, and bathtubs, sinks, and showers started draining. "That's great. You did it!" Ky just looked at him with a look that almost broke his heart. Ky pulled away from Wolverine and ran for her room.  
"She just found her sister and now Magneto has taken her. Xavier, we have to find Katana." Wolverine glared at the professor.  
"I understand that, and I'm sure she's with Magneto. The next step is to get a party together. I'll be going only because we'll need Kydra. She has a connection with her sister that we are going to need if we are to get her back with us. Get Storm, Cyclops, Rogue, and Iceman and have them meet us at the jet. I'll get Kydra."  
Wolverine rounded up the others as he was asked. When they got to the jet, Kydra and Xavier were already seated on the plane. Storm and Cyclops took their places at the controls, while Rogue and Iceman sat next to Xavier. Wolverine sat next to Kydra. "It'll be ok Kydra. I promise you, it will be ok." Ky nodded.  
  
**** Magneto's Base  
  
"Magneto! The X-Men's jet is approaching. What do we do?" Bender looked at his boss.  
"I hadn't expected them to figure out where Katana was so soon. But no matter, you keep control of her mind, and she'll take care of the rest." Magneto sounded sure of himself. Bender brought Katana out of her room while Mystique, Pyro, and Magneto went out to meet the jet.  
As the jet landed, Magneto watched for his old friend. "Xavier. How nice of you to pay us a visit here at our humble base camp."  
"Where is she Magneto?" Xavier asked.  
"Where is who, old friend?" Magneto smiled at him. "I have no clue what you're talking about."  
"Where is Katana, Magneto?" Wolverine stepped from the plane and glared at the man that he considered to be one of his worst enemies.  
"Katana? Oh, do you mean Kufury?"  
"No shit."  
"Logan, control yourself." Xavier glared at Wolverine. "We don't need to make the situation worse."  
Katana came out of the house. Immediately upon seeing Wolverine and the others, she launched a fireball attack. Bender made sure to keep graphic images of the mutants by the jet flowing to Katana's mind. After all, if he let down his guard on that front for one second, Katana could end up realizing that she'd been tricked. And that wasn't something that Bender wanted to happen.  
Magneto held out one hand to stop Katana from attacking again. "Hold on Katana. Let me talk to Xavier for a few minutes." Magneto walked towards the jet. "Xavier, don't you understand? I want Kydra. Now, you can either turn Kydra over to me, or we can fight for her. But you have to understand, Katana believes that you are going to corrupt Kydra. I tried to tell her that it wasn't true, but she thinks that you'll turn Kydra against her."  
"You know very well that we would never turn Kydra against her twin. I know you've fed Katana a big batch of lies."  
"You say lies I say truth or rather a variation of it."  
"I want my sister back you assholes!" Kufury snarled.  
Alec stepped down from the jet upon hearing Katana's voice. They had done something to her all right. Katana may not like people but she had been around them long enough to know that the X-Men were the good guys. Hell she had even said that Pyro had been the reason why she had lost her home and job.  
"Katana?" He called.  
Kufury glared at him itching to send a ball of fire in between those pretty blue eyes of his but something in his look made her remember something.  
"I don't like people is there something wrong with that?" She had asked him, it seemed so long ago vague but it was there.  
"No, but usually there is a reason for it." He had told her.  
How could people intent on world destruction care about anyone even there own kind like that and Ky....Ky would never....  
Bender concentrated extra hard to send images back to her to counter act her very logical and perceptive mind. It was hard because he was trying to counter act the newest members interference and the newest member hadn't been in any of the small wars against Magneto. He finally sent an image showing them corrupting this newest member at the school. Kufury's rage towards the mutants now walking away from the jet grew stronger with each image that Bender transmitted to her. Bender quickly relayed a message to Magento that he didn't know how much longer he could hold up with the images to Kufury. Magneto nodded. He understood that with each passing second, Kufury could suddenly realize she was being tricked and that all hell would then break loose. He pointed to Wolverine, and unmistakable gesture.  
Bender concentrated on sending images of Wolverine, images that would cause Kufury to target Wolverine. Magneto knew that Ky had a soft spot for Wolverine, and putting him in danger would most likely cause her to give herself up to Magneto's side. Kufury raged at the images that were flooding through her brain. She turned her gaze to Wolverine and let loose with a barrage of fireballs. When Wolverine did not seem to be fazed by that, her rage grew even more. She quickly burst into a blaze, setting Kydra in motion.  
"NO!!!" Kydra screamed. She ran towards Kufury and changed herself into water, surrounding Kufury. Furious, Kufury returned to human form. Bender sent her an image that indicated that he'd realized that Kydra planned to kill her twin for the sake of Wolverine. Kufury's eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms over her chest. Building her power up to the point that she felt that if she didn't release it, she'd explode, Kufury spread her arms wide. A pillar of fire burst from the water, turning the water to steam in an instant. Kufury had killed her sister.  
Dropping to the ground, Kufury realized what she had just done. Her mind cleared in an instant as she realized she'd been tricked. When Magneto couldn't get what he wanted, he'd used her to destroy it. Kufury's eyes began to glow brighter and brighter red. Xavier and the others backed off as far as they could. This was something they'd yet to see and at the moment none of them were willing to step between Kufury and her targets.  
One moment Kufury stood before Magneto and his minions. The next Kufury was gone and a wall of white hot flames was moving steadily towards Magneto and the others. Pyro frantically tried to turn the wall of fire the other direction, to no avail. It would seem that nobody but Kufury could control Kufury's Fire. Magneto and his crew ran for the helicopter. As they lifted off, Magneto yelled down to Xavier and the X-Men.  
"I may not have gotten what I wanted, but I did the next best thing. I've destroyed her so that no one else may have her either." Magneto laughed as he took off in the helicopter.  
Katana returned to human form and allowed herself to be led onto the jet. When they returned to the school, she went straight to the room she'd shared with Ky. She sat on her bed andr stared at the bed where Ky should be laying. She'd killed her twin. She felt cold inside, as if nothing would ever warm her again.  
In the next room over, Wolverine lay on his bed, staring at the wall that he knew led to Ky and Tana's room. Just the thought of Ky never being there again made his blood run cold. He felt empty, as though a part of him were missing. For both Wolverine and Katana, something was missing. Something that they weren't sure could ever be replaced.  
Katana sat in the bedroom she had shared with her sister. Suddenly the pain was too much she ran through the open door of her room and down the hallway to the garage. She had to have a release for the pain even if it meant exploding. Staring at the statue that she had created because of the reunion with her sister she focused all of her energy on the two part woman and got ready to destroy the very soul of who she was only to have vines wrapped around her so tightly she couldn't move.  
"This isn't the way, Katana. I know you hurt, we all miss Kydra."  
"Yes but you didn't kill her. My foster parents were right Kydra's parents were right. I am no good. I killed the only good person I have ever known just because another mutant put stupid little pictures in my head!"  
"You couldn't stop it." Alec whispered in her ear.  
"You should have let me leave when I had the chance! This would never have happened if I had just left when I had the chance."  
"Then you would never have made this." He gestured to the statue. "You would never have gotten to know your sister again."  
"I'd rather have not known my sister and known she was alive than to kill her because two mutant factions were having a tiff."  
"Fine! It's all your fault. You are the reason there is so much death and destruction you killed your sister in cold blood."  
"That's hurtful and so wrong. I would never have killed my sister in cold blood."  
"Yeah it's almost as ridiculous as the trash you're spilling out."  
Katana burst into tears, crying out in huge wracking sobs that made Alec pull her closer unwrapping the vines around her so that he could hold her. Above her head he looked at Wolverine who silently nodded and backed out of the garage.  
Ky was dead and it was Magneto's fault not Katana's. When she figured that out it would be hell keeping her at the school rather than taking off to find Magneto and killing him. That wasn't justice that was revenge and revenge never helped.  
Wherever you are Ky remember that I love you. Katana sent the message out into the ether hoping that maybe her twin's soul could hear it and forgive her. Forgive her for not being strong enough. She hoped Ky could because deep down inside Katana knew that she could never forgive herself.  
  
The End 


End file.
